Igo Hatsuyoron

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発陽論

Igo Hatsuyoron literally means "Explore the Go World" and is a collection of 183 tsumego. It was written in 1713 by Dosetsu Inseki, the 3rd head of the Inoue go school, and was designed for the training of the highest caliber students at the school. It was kept secret for all but a few of them, who studied the book under the direct supervision of the Inoue. (Obviously it was kept secret from the other go schools as well!)

In our modern times the text is available to the general public just like a lot of other books. It is not just another book though. Its level is extremely high, at professional standard really.

--Stefan

f3etoiles In fact, it probably contains the MostDifficultProblemEver :-)

To get an idea of what the book is about, you could have a look at [ext] "the most difficult problem ever" (if you don't speak French, the problem is " Black to play and win the game" ; as the solution is more than 170 moves long, this may immediately give you an idea of the incredible difficulty of the thing). . Composed by Dosetsu himself, this is (in the words of FujisawaShuko, who solved it with the assistance of some of his students) "a lifetime masterpiece, with elegant shapes, the striking novelty of the theme, the precise balance of the fights, etc." You will find [ext] there. a solution too (alas, in French, and a lot of commentaries are necessary, for instance to understand why on Earth the winning maneuvre for Black is to put his own 20 stones in atari, and why White don't capture...)

John Fairbairn Hatsuyou (not hatsuyo) means "generating yang" which is here a way of saying tactics. Igo = go, ron = discussion. There is no reference to world. See my introduction in the Yutopian book if you need more detail.


See also [ext] David Carlton's review


kklim FaYangLun 《发阳论》

In Japan, four version of this life and death classic have been published.

1914 version with commentary by Honinbo Shusai, Meijin.

1953 version with commentary by Fujisawa Shuko [藤泽秀行]Honorary Kisei.

1970 version with commentary by Hashimoto Utaro[桥本宇太郎].

1982 version with commentary by Fujisawa Shuko[藤泽秀行].

The first three versions contain 202 problems divided to six catagories. The 1982 version, the most recent one, has only 183 problems. "Suspect copy cat questions from Xuanxuan Qijing 玄玄棋经" have been removed after comparing the text with a considerably older manuscript (荒木氏版本). In addition, the 1982 version contains 2 problems missing from the first 3 versions. As stated by the original author in the book's preface: "this book contains 180+ problems carefully selected from a set of 1,500 problems.". The 1982 version is believed to be a more reliable version of the book.

All four versions of the book share a common structure: the answer to the problem is brief, coupled with detailed explanation and in depth commentary. The book is a reading exercise for players of professional strength.

Hatsuyou 《发阳论》, is also known as 《不断樱》(do not know how to translate into english meaning here, from word should mean "non-stop sakura") indicating that the book contains a number of colorful and clever moves, and that the tesujis follow one another rapidly without respite.

John F. The alternative name is Fudanzakura, which is the name of a kind of cherry tree (sakura) famous for its continuous (fudan) long blooms - this being, of course, the precise opposite of what cherry tree blooms are normally famous for in Japan (Iro wa nioedo, etc).

From my understanding from various sources, and this should interpret in ancient meaning: Hatsuyou 《发阳论》- game piece and similar items call "yin 阴", and skillful move hidden behind the shape is call "yang 阳". And 发阳 can be understand in plain english as discovery of those hidden, and yet effective skill moves.

As is well known, this book is a professional level text to be used by professional players. It is not appropriate for amateur players. It is compulsory for professional players to master this book.

In 1988, a Chinese edition was published: 《围棋发阳论》新解,程晓流解说 .

ISBN:7-80548-124-5/G.125 hardcover

ISBN: 7-80548-147-4/G.148 softcover

And during 2003 Dec, the China Pro commentary version《发阳论新解》(修订本)revision is published, as belief the most up-to-date version for the classic so far.

Thank, hope it help.


This is a copy of the living page "Igo Hatsuyoron" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2004 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.
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